Apparatus for singly separating conical cups from a nested stack



March 20, 1956 o. A. HANSEN ETAL 2,738,899

APPARATUS FOR SINGLY SEPARATING CONICAL CUPS FROM A NESTED STACK Filed Oct. 18, 1951 IN VENTO RS HR ANToN HANSEN AND HRNE M United States Patent APPARATUS FOR SINGLY SEPARATING CONICAL CUPS FROM A NESTED STACK Oscar Anton Hansen, Soborg, near Copenhagen, and Arne Mohr, Hvidovre, near Copenhagen, Denmark, assignors to Andersen & Bruuns Fabriker A/S, Frederiksherg, near Copenhagen, Denmark The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for singly separating conical cups from a nested stack of such cups.

In handling conical cups and capsules it is known tostack them together for facilitating their shipment and handling. In many machines where such cups or capsules are needed as for instance in capsuling machines for bottles they are therefore fed into the machine in the form of such stacks, and the machine consequently is provided with machine parts for singly separating the cups from the stack. It is well known to use mechanically driven grippers for this purpose, but such grippers can only be used when the cups are so stiff and stout that they can withstand the gripping without being deformed.

The main object of the present invention is to provide means allowing very long cups or capsules manufactured of soft and weak material as for instance thin aluminium foil to be singly extracted from a stack of such capsules without being deformed.

This object is attained in accordance with the invention by using air, which is blown into the stack between the foremost capsule in the stack and the remainder of the same, hereby blowing the foremost capsule away from the rest of the stack and at the same time pressing the remainder of the stack backwards against a holding device.

The invention has the further object to provide a simple and eificient machine based on this method for singly separating capsules or cups of a weak and thin material with long skirts from the stack without injuring the capsules.

As the present method and the apparatus based thereon is very simple, the invention can also advantageously be used for handling cups and capsules manufactured of such stitf and stout materials that they can withstand the use of mechanically driven grippers as the mechanisms for driving such grippers commonly are very complicated.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood a process and apparatus in accordance therewith will now be described, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of one apparatus in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a similar View of a somewhat different apparatus in accordance with the invention,

Figure 3 is a sectional side elevation illustrating a modification which may be employed in either of the apparatus of the preceding figures.

Referring first to Figure 1, this comprises essentially a member 1 of channel form disposed at an angle to the horizontal. This channel member 1 is adapted to have the stack of cups 2 laid in it with the axis of the stack longitudinal with respect to the channel member. 'The lower end of the channel member 1, hereinafter termed the forward end, abuts against, and is secured to, the face of an annular metal body 3, which surrounds the stack, and said body 3 has ahole4 through'it'which is ice coaxial with the stack of cups and is large enough to permit the cups to pass easily through it.

The stack of cups is arranged so that the foremost cup has its open end forwards. The stack is biased downwards by its own weight and slides down the channel member 1 until its forward end enters the hole 4 and the foremost cup abuts against a stop 5 which projects into said hole, and thus the forward end of the stack is definitely located.

A number of ports of which one 6 is shown are formed in the body 3, said ports extending from the outside of said body 3 and debouching at the bottom of the inner surface of the hole 4. As clearly shown in the drawing, the ports where they debouch are inclined rear wardly and are so located that a stream of air issuing from them will impinge against the side of the portion of the foremost cup which projects from the next capsule.

In operation, when it is desired to separate the foremost cup from the stack, an air stream is blown through the ports 6 and simultaneously the stop 5 is withdrawn from the hole 4 and a pad 7 is pressed down onto the upturned side of the stack to hold it in position.

The air stream, which, as aforesaid, impinges at an angle in the rearward direction against the side of the portion of the foremost cup which projects from the succeeding cup, will flow, through the clearance between the outer surface of said foremost cup and the inner surface of said succeeding cup and thus pressure will be set up within said succeeding cup, and as said foremost cup is free, this pressure will blow the same forwardly through the hole 4.

The said pressure will also act on the remainder of the stack and press this backwards against the pad 7, thereby hindering more than one single cup being blown away from the stack at a time.

The air stream is then arrested and'simultaneously the stop 5 is returned to its normal position and the pad 7 is lifted from engagement with the stack. The stack consequently slides down the channel member 1 until the new foremost capsule abuts'against the stop 5. The cycle is now completed and a fresh cycle will effect the separation of the new foremost cup and so on.

To be sure that air will be free to flow through the clearance between the foremost and succeeding cup, each of the cups may have the surface of its skirt knurled or corrugated so that the juxtaposed cup skirts do not touch over their whole surface, but have small interspaces between them. i

A spout member 8 leads from the forward end of the hole 4. This spout member is curved downwardly as shown and it guides each separated capsule downwardly so that the latter falls into place for instance over the mouth of a bottle 9 located underneath said spout member. Conveyor means may be provided which bring the bottles 9 successively underneath the spout member 8 so that the separated cups drop on respective bottles.

For synchronising the air stream through the ports 6 with the appropriate movements of the stop 5 and the pad 7, a lever 10 is provided pivoted at 11 between its ends. The stop 5 is carried by one end of said lever and the pad 7 is carried by the other. The end of the lever which carries the shoe is biased upwardly by means of a tension spring 12 to a normal position at which the pad 7 is clear of the stack. This brings the stop 5 down to the normal arresting position. The end of the lever which carries the stop is connected, by means of a connecting rod 13, and a piston rod 14, to a piston 15 which moves in a cylinder 16. An inlet port 17 leads to the lower end of said cylinder 16, and an outlet port 18 leads from said cylinder ata point which is above the piston 15 when the same is at' its normal down position but is below it when it is at its up position. The outlet port 3 18 is connected, by means of a conduit indicated at 19, to the port 6.

It will now be seen that, to pass an air stream through the port 6 and simultaneously raise the stop and lower the pad 7, air under pressure is supplied to the cylinder 16 through the inlet port 17. This raises the piston thereby raising the stop 5 and lowering the pad 7. As soon as the piston is above the outlet port 18, air flows through said outlet port 18 and the conduit 19 to and through the port 6. In this way it will be seen that the holding of the stack by the pad 7 and the liberation of the foremost cup by the stop 5 are effected just before the air stream is passed through the port 6 for ejecting said foremost cup. 4

The constructional details are deemed obvious from the drawing. Thus the cylinder 16 and inlet and outlet ports 17 and 18 are formed in an upper portion of the aforesaid body 3. A slot 20 is formed in the body 3 to accommodate the connecting rod 13 and piston rod 14 and also the forward end of the lever 10.

For pivotally mounting the lever 10, a bracket 21 is provided mounted on the casting 3. The spring 12 is connected to another bracket 22 also mounted on the body 3.

Referring now to Figure 2 the apparatus illustrated therein is in general similar to that of Figure 1 and differs therefrom only in that the stack of capsules 2 is arranged so that the foremost capsule has its closed end, instead of its open end forwards. It follows from this that the stream of air which is blown against the side of the stack for separating said foremost cup must impinge against the side of the portion of the second cup which projects from said foremost cup, and must be inclined forwardly instead of rearwardly so that it flows into the interior of said foremost cup and blows it directly from the stack and into the desired position.

The port 6a of Figure .2 must therefore be placed considerably further to the rear than the port 6 of Figure 1. In the construction illustrated this is attained by making the stack-receiving channel of two parts 1a and 1b with the body 3 with the ports 6a between them.

In all other respects the apparatus of Figure 2 is the same as that of Figure 1. The same references are applied to corresponding parts of the two figures, and the upper part of Figure 2, which is broken away, is identical with the corresponding part of Figure 1. The operation is similar to that of Figure 1. Each time the stop 5 is removed from the path of the stack and the pad 7 is simultaneously pressed down on said stack, a stream of air is projected through the ports 6a. In the present instance this flows forwards through the clearance between the foremost and the second cup into the interior of said foremost cup, and thus a pressure is developed in said foremost capsule which blows it forwardly from the stack. The stop 5 and the pad 7 are then returned to their normal position illustrated, and the stack slides down the channel until the bottom of the next cup abuts against the stop 5 hereby completing the cycle which may be re peated indefinitely.

In Figure 2 each cup is ejected from the spout member 8 with its closed end foremost and can be placed in this position for instance in the receiver of a machine for further operation.

In the system heretofore described it will be seen that a common air stream actuates the piston 15 and also supplies the air flow through the port 6 for separating the foremost cup. It is, however, sometimes found desirable to be able to regulate independently the pressure of the air actuating the piston 15 and the flow of air through the port 6, and Figure 3 illustrates a modification, which may be applied to either of the preceding embodiments, to provide for such independent regulation.

Thus it will be seen that in Figure 3 the piston 15 of Figure 1 is replaced by a piston 15a provided. with a reduced neck between its two end portions. Two separate inlet ports 17a and 17b lead into the cylinder 16. The port 17a enters said cylinder at the lower end, and the port 17b enters it towards the upper end where it is normally closed by the upper end portion of the piston 15a. The outlet port 18 from said cylinder, which leads as before to the conduit 19, is at the same level in the cylinder as the inlet port 17b.

When a cup is to be ejected from the stack, air pressure is applied simultaneously to the two inlet ports 17a and 17b, but means are provided for regulating independently the air pressure supplied to said two ports. The port 17b is initially blocked by the upper portion of the piston 15a. The air flowing into the cylinder through the port 17a, however, immediately raises the piston 15a to its uppermost position and both of the ports 17b and 18 now communicate with the space surrounding the reduced neck of the piston 15a. Air, therefore, flows freely through the port 18 and conduit 19 for ejecting the cup.

The air is then cut off from the ports 17a and 17b and the piston 15a returns to its normal position, thereby completing the cycle. The piston of course actuates the stop 5 and pad 7 as in the preceding embodiments.

Air pressure could be supplied continuously to the port 17b, and intermittently only to the port 17a.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for separating conical cups one by one from a nested stack, comprising a channel for containing the stack and guiding it longitudinally, a stop for obstructing the forward end of the stack, a pad for engaging the side of the stack to restrain all but the foremost cup, pneumatic means for projecting a stream of air against the side of said stack at a position and inclination to blow said air into the space between said foremost cup and the succeeding one, and correlated control means for said stop, said pad and said pneumatic means, whereby the stream of air is projected intermittently, and, simultaneously with each projection, said stop is withdrawn from the obstructing position and said pad is engaged with the side of said stack.

2. Apparatus for separating conical cups one by one from a nested stack, comprising a channel for containing the stack and guiding it longitudinally, a stop having a position in the path of the stack for obstructing the forward end thereof, and a position out of the path of said stack, a nozzle for projecting a stream of air against the side of said stack at a position and inclination to blow said air into the space between the foremost cup and the succeeding one, a conduit leading to said nozzle, means for intermittently blowing air through said conduit and out of said nozzle, and control means for said stop actuated by the air flowing along said conduit, whereby when the air stream is flowing, said stop is at its second-named position, and, when said air stream is not flowing, said stop is at its first-named position.

3. Apparatus for separating conical cups one by one from a nested stack, comprising a channel for containing the stack and guiding it longitudinally, a stop having a position in the path of the stack for obstructing the forward end thereof, and a position out of the path of said stack, a nozzle for projecting a stream of air against the side of said stack at a position and inclination to blow said air into the space between the foremost cup and the succeeding one, a conduit'leading to said nozzle, means for intermittently blowing air through said conduit and out of said nozzle, and' control means for said stop actuated by the air flowing along said conduit, whereby when the air stream is flowing, said stop is at its second-named position, and, when said air stream is not flowing, said stop is at its first-named position, said control means operating to obstruct said conduit except when the air has operated said control means for moving said stop to the second named position.

4. Apparatus for separating conical cups one by one from a nested stack, comprising a channel for containing said stack and guiding it longitudinally, a stop having a position in the path of said stack for obstructing the forward end thereof, and a position out of the path of said stack, a nozzle for projecting a stream of air against the side of said stack ata position and inclination to blow said air into the space between the foremost cup and the succeeding one, a conduit leading to said nozzle, means for intermittently blowing air through said conduit and out of said nozzle, a cylinder connected in said conduit between the ends thereof and forming a part of said conduit, the portion of said conduit between said cylinder and said nozzle joining said cylinder at an outlet port in the side wall thereof, a piston in said cylinder, said piston having a normal position at which it cuts off said outlet port from the portion of said conduit between said cylinder and the air supply source, said last named conduit portion joining said cylinder at an air inlet port on one side of said piston, whereby air entering said cylinder from said last-named conduit portion moves said piston to a position for establishingcommunication between said outlet port and said last-named conduit portion and transmission means between said piston and said stop, whereby, when said piston is at its normal position, said stop is in the path of the stack, and, when said piston is uncovering said outlet port said stop is out of the path of the stack.

5. Apparatus for separating conical cups one by one from a nested stack, comprising a channel for containing the stack and guiding it longitudinally, a stop having an obstructing position in the path of the stack for obstructing the forward end thereof and a non-obstructing position out of the path of said stack, a pad having a position engaging the side of the stack for restraining all but the foremost cup and a position disengaging the stack, a nozzle for projecting a stream of air against the side of the stack at a position and inclination to blow said air into the space between the foremost cup and the succeeding one, a conduit leading to said nozzle, means for intermittently blowing air through said conduit and out of said nozzle, and control means for said stop and said pad actuated by the air flowing along said conduit, whereby, when the air stream is flowing, said stop is at its nonobstructing position and said pad is at its engaging position, and when said air stream is not flowing, said stop is at its obstructing position and said pad is at its disengaging position.

6. Apparatus for separating conical cups one by one from a nested stack, comprising a channel for containing the stack and guiding it longitudinally, a stop having an obstructing position in the path of the stack for obstructing the forward end thereof, and a non-obstructing position out of the path of said stack, a nozzle for projecting a stream of air against the side of the stack at a position and inclination to blow said air into the space between the foremost cup and the succeeding one, a conduit leading to said nozzle, a member in said conduit having an obstructing position at which it obstructs, and a non-obstructing position at which it permits, the flow of air along said conduit to said nozzle, and transmission means between said member and said stop, whereby, when said member is at its obstructing position, said stop is at its obstructing position, and when said member is at its non-obstructing position said stop is at its non-obstructing position.

7. Apparatus for separating conical cups one by one from a nested stack, comprising a channel for containing the stack and guiding it longitudinally, a stop having an obstructing position in the path of the stack for obstructing the forward end thereof, and a non-obstructing position out of the path of said stack, a pad having a position engaging the side of the stack, to restrain all but the foremost cup and a position disengaging the stack, a nozzle for projecting a stream of air against the side of the stack at a position and inclination to blow said air into the space between the foremost cup and the succeeding one, a conduit leading to said nozzle, a member in said conduit having an obstructing position at which it obstructs, and a non-obstructing position at which it permits, the flow of air along said conduit to said nozzle, and transmission means between said member and both said stop and said pad, whereby, when said member is at its obstructing position, said stop is at its obstructing position and said pad is at its disengaging position, and, when said member is at its non-obstructing position, said stop is at its non-obstructing position and said pad is at its engaging position.

8. Apparatus for singly separating conical cups from a nested stack of such cups, comprising a support for the stack along which said stack is longitudinally movable, a pivoted double-armed lever mounted in bearings in fixed relation to said support, a stop mounted on one end of said lever and a pad mounted on the other end of said lever, said lever being rockable to one position at which said stop obstructs the forward end of said stack and said pad disengages said stack, and to another position at which said stop liberates said forward end of said stack and. said pad holds all the cups in the stack except the foremost one in fixed relation to said support, a nozzle in fixed relation to said support and located so that air blown therefrom will pass into the space between the foremost cup and the succeeding one,-a cylinder, a conduit connecting an outlet port of said cylinder to the inlet of said nozzle, a piston movable in said cylinder, a mechanical connection between said piston and said lever, and means supplying compressed air to said cylinder intermittently, said lever being normally at said one position and said piston being moved by each intermittent supply of compressed air to said cylinder, so as to move said lever, by means of said mechanical connection, to said other position, and also to connect said outlet port to the compressed air supplied to said cylinder, whereby air is blown from said nozzle into said space between said foremost cup and the succeeding one and said foremost cup is thereby blown from the stack.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,238,895 Dempsey Sept. 4, 1917 1,855,441 Crouse Apr. 26, 1932 1,927,151 Blasco Sept. 19, 1933 1,979,089 Adams Oct. 30, 1934 2,017,521 Whiting, Jr. Oct. 15, 1935 2,271,937 Engels Feb. 3, 1942 2,558,633 Tuttle June 26, 1951 

